The newest EU war of words over Israel

EU officials clashed Monday over whether to approve a joint statement that some diplomats argued would have inflamed relations with Israel by stressing a distinction between the country and its occupied territories.

The issue threatened to cause a deadlock at a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Brussels, according to diplomats, as several countries argued over draft language on progress in the Middle East peace process. Critics said that if adopted, the proposed conclusions from the EU council meeting would have made the bloc’s fraught relationship with Israel even more difficult.

By Monday night, the compromise language was approved “unanimously,” said the EU’s foreign policy chief, Federica Mogherini, who told reporters the version approved by ministers was “a good text.”

Diplomats wrestled for much of the day over the language, after having been lobbied through the weekend by Israeli officials angry at the wording of the statement, which included references to Israeli actions in the territories it occupied in 1967 and sought to draw a clearer distinction between Israel and those occupied lands.

The dispute comes at a sensitive time in EU-Israeli relations, after Israel raised strong objections to new labeling rules that differentiate between products made in Israel and those produced in Israeli settlements.

At one point during the discussion Monday tensions were so high there was a danger the text would have been taken off the meeting’s agenda. “If we don’t find a deal, the whole point could be dropped” to avoid a heated discussion among ministers, said one EU diplomat while the ministers were still meeting.

An earlier draft stated that “the EU will continue to unequivocally and explicitly make the distinction between Israel and all territories occupied by Israel in 1967.”

The problem arose Friday afternoon, when Greece asked to reopen discussion of a text that had been approved by EU officials, diplomats said. Greece, sources said, complained that it did not have enough time to examine the document to give it a final green light before approval by foreign ministers and that the wording was too harsh on Israel.

In the meeting Monday morning Cyprus, Romania and Hungary joined Greece’s criticism, two diplomats said, while Sweden, Ireland and Malta were in the camp favoring tougher language.

The language approved by ministers revealed a few key changes were made in order to agree the points.

An earlier draft stated that “the EU will continue to unequivocally and explicitly make the distinction between Israel and all territories occupied by Israel in 1967” by ensuring “the non-applicability of all EU agreements with the State of Israel, in form and in implementation, to these territories.”

Later Monday that had been changed to: “The EU and its member states are committed to ensure continued, full and effective implementation of existing EU legislation and bilateral arrangements applicable to settlements products. The EU expresses its commitment to ensure that — in line with international law — all agreements between the State of Israel and the EU must unequivocally and explicitly indicate their inapplicability to the territories occupied by Israel in 1967.”

The final version also contains softer language referring to Israel’s proposed transparency law that would require non-governmental organizations receiving more than 50 percent of their funding from foreign governments to make a declaration — no longer claiming it would “stifle” the work of such NGOs in the region.

Relations between Israel and Sweden have been especially thorny after Swedish Foreign Minister Margot Wallström called for an investigation of how the country handles Palestinian knife attackers, and Tel Aviv retaliated by saying she would no longer be welcome in Israel.

Netanyahu expressed concern on Monday that the EU would impose more measures against the West Bank settlements.

The Greek position was seen by diplomats as linked to energy talks over a potential plan to lay a natural-gas pipeline stretching from Israel to Cyprus to Greece that would provide a gateway to the European market for Israel, sources with knowledge of the talks said. A three-way summit between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras and Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades is due to take place in Nicosia on January 28, according to a diplomat who confirmed Israeli press reports.

But other diplomats said Greece’s complaints opened the doors to other countries’ grievances. “If Europe wants to play a bigger a role in the Middle East peace process we cannot have a text that doesn’t sound well-balanced to one of the two parties,” said a diplomat from one of the countries opposed to the language.

On Friday, before Greece expressed its disappointment, diplomats downplayed the importance of the document to be approved by the ministers — it was seen as simply restating old positions already expressed in July last year.

“It is nothing groundbreaking,” said a senior EU official, adding that the document was only reaffirming the EU position to work with all sides for a comprehensive solution and to reach an agreement on the basis of a two-state solution (Israel and Palestine).

Israel was concerned that language in the previous draft signaled a desire by Brussels to turn up the pressure in the wake of the labeling decision. Netanyahu expressed concern on Monday that the EU would impose more measures against the West Bank settlements, Israel’s Haaretznewspaper reported.

“We are facing a crisis which is not small with the European Union on the political level,” Netanyahu told the Knesset, the Israeli parliament, according to the paper. “They have marked settlements products and we do not know if they are going to do something else.”

But EU diplomats stressed that the labeling decision in November did not amount to sanctions, and said they have never supported a boycott of Israeli products, a point stressed in all the drafts of the conclusions. They said the document approved by the Council would only be a political statement that would not lead to new measures.

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glasspix 1

I wish I could understand the roots of Sweden’s hostility towards Israel, however, I suspect this and their out of control migrant situation in the country will have their common denominators, especially on an ideological level.

Posted on 1/18/16 | 9:50 PM CEST

Tim

We treat those Israeli “settlements” – each arising out of brutal and illegal land-grabs from the Occupied Palestinian territories – as if they were legitimately owned, and we may as well give up any and all pretense to morality or rule of law. Shameful the EU don’t follow Sweden’s example and call them on their barbaric genocide of the Palestinians!

Posted on 1/19/16 | 1:24 AM CEST

RogerLanger

Every country should have the right to protect itself by controlling lands through which it has been attacked.

EU could start following the law, it witnessed the Oslo Agreement which is an AGREEMENT between two sides, not imposed by Israel, where Arafat got the control of 95% of the West Bank arabs and the land where they lived! Before they had no control at all. Unfortunately they showed since then that they want ALL including Israel, to be satisfied! The Levy Report shows the “settlements” are completely legal, that Netanyahu has hidden the report in the bottom drawer is causing all the problems – he wants to appease the lefties there like he wants to appease everyone else from Abbas to Erdogan for his personal glamour..